He cleared his throat and ran a hand over his hair. “One jump, maybe two if I have a rest.”
“Talk about a fucking quandary,” I muttered. Then again, I knew in my heart I was desperately looking for a reason to not kill Berget. I did not want to make my parents right, to become the murderer they’d accused me of being all those years ago.
The best I could do was keep Berget close and hope to hell I could handle her and any other blow ups she would have. A part of me knew I was being delusional, that eventually it would come to that. But I would put it off as long as I could.
Erik cleared his throat. “When did you last feed?”
Berget shook her head. “I don’t remember, it’s been too long and they wouldn’t let me feed once my parents went on a rampage. I am holding them tight right now, and they are behaving, I think because they know our lives are on the line.”
There were not a lot of options, and I was seeing only one way out of two major problems. So I did what I always did and didn’t think too much about the possible consequences. I stepped close to Berget, cupped the back of her head and pushed her mouth toward my neck. She fought me at first, but her hunger won out and her teeth sunk into my neck.
A rush of adrenaline coursed through me, the first time I’d ever felt anything other than pain or disinterest (as with Doran) when being bitten by a vampire. I realized, as she drank my blood, it was the power she held humming just under her skin that I felt. I knew she was strong, but I’d had no idea just how strong until that moment. It made me realize how much Berget had been fighting even when her parents were in control and how much she’d slowed them. If the three ever decided to work in tandem…. I couldn’t help the shudder that slipped through me. We’d be royally fucked up shit creek with no paddles and crocodiles coursing alongside us.
“Enough.” I stepped back.
“It won’t be, not if it’s been a long time,” Erik grunted as he stepped up and let Berget bite into the crook of his elbow.
I went to Frank while Berget fed. “Thank you. I know it was dangerous what I asked you to do.”
He shrugged, his face visibly pinking, even in the darkness. “I want to help. And I don’t think she wanted to kill Thomas. But Doran is going to be pissed at me. I’d like to stay with you.”
He was scared of Doran? Looked like the age-old adversary thing was already coming into play. “Did he say something to you?”
“No, just … I don’t know, he’s a vampire. And he said that no one was to go near Berget.”
“He had her locked up?”
Again, he shrugged. “Just in one of the rooms; it wasn’t hard to get her out.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Erik step away from Berget. “Pamela, hang onto her a minute more.” I put a hand on Frank’s shoulder. “Thank you. And yeah, you can stay with us. I think you can help with this next salvage.”
Frank gave me a tentative smile. “I’d like that.”
I went back to Berget, holding my hands up to her. “Okay. Let’s see you do your magic.”
She gave me a smile and a tingle rippled along my arms and through my hands, the last of the pain evaporating under her temporary bond to me as the healing progressed at a rapid pace. I flexed my hands, the aches and pains of fighting Orion completely gone. There was only one thing left to do.
I pulled a sword from my back and whipped it forward stopping a hairsbreadth from removing her head from her shoulders. “You two, inside Berget, listen up. I will take her head and end all three of your lives if you force my hand. I hope you understand that.”
A voice rumbled out of her lips that was most definitely not hers.
“Crystal clear, Tracker.”
Berget gasped, her eyes widened. “I didn’t know they could do that.”
I lowered the blade and gave Pamela a nod. “Let her go.” I put my sword back. “I’m not surprised, they have been holding back, I think, letting us all get comfortable with the idea of them being trapped. We have to find a way to separate you from them in a more final way.”
Like so much though, that would have to wait.
One freaking disaster at a time.
Chapter 9
“FRANK.” I TOUCHED his arm and he spun toward me, eyes unfocused. Shit, this was not a good start. “Pull it together, would you?”
He stared through me and I knew Berget was standing behind me without even Tracking her.
“I really don’t like vampires, but I don’t understand why.” Despite the tremor in his body, his words were clear.
“Long standing family feud, I think, but it doesn’t matter. You have to deal with it. Thomas couldn’t; be better than him,” I said, making sure my body blocked his line of sight.